COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There was a parachute team, a helicopter flyover and the triple-option offense. Army brought a show to Ohio Stadium on Saturday, but it didn't bring Ohio State any clarity.

The Buckeyes won 38-7, which the week after a 15-point loss to Oklahoma is progress.

Isn't it?

Three games into the season, the No. 8 Buckeyes seem stuck just where they were after their opener at Indiana, as a running team that wants to throw because it knows it needs to throw.

Toss that service academy triple-option into the indoor field at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for a week, and you might come out with an offense that would make jaws drop in West Point, Annapolis and Colorado Springs.

You think Army, Navy and Air Force run that multi-faceted ground game well? Put J.T. Barrett, J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber at the heart of it and watch what happens. Urban Meyer knows that's what the Buckeyes almost are, and there may be some pride in that.

Running makes you feel tough. Linemen like it. Disgruntled fans tired of missed deep balls like it. Running backs who enjoy the end zone like it.

But the dance between what the Buckeyes like and do well, and what they need and do sporadically at best, continued Saturday and it's difficult to see it going away.

Sure, Barrett threw the ball, but a lot of it was sideways, basically option number four in this run attack -- swing it wide to Parris Campbell or K.J. Hill. Yet when the Buckeyes ended the first half with 20 passes and just nine carries for the tailbacks, most of the 100,000-plus in attendance wanted to run up into the coaches box and ask first-year coordinator Kevin Wilson what he had against Dobbins.

So, then, boom, the first half started with an Army drive of 6:10 that yielded no points on a missed field goal and an Ohio State drive of 27 seconds that was a 22-yard Dobbins run followed by a 52-yard Dobbins run.

Yes, you thought, that's it. Do that. So why didn't Ohio State do it earlier?

Are Meyer and Wilson that stubborn, that blind to what all of us see? Or are they desperate to make work what hasn't worked? If you're sure you can beat Army, and after the Black Knights had to rally to beat Buffalo by four last week, the Buckeyes were sure, then doesn't Saturday become a day for experimentation?

Practice is fun, but the Buckeyes practiced all preseason and said their passing game was fine and dandy. So practice isn't enough. Opponents are required, so Game 3 was another test.

Barrett completed 25 of 33 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns. He nearly missed his longest completion of the day, to tight end Marcus Baugh over the middle, by throwing late and behind him. But then he ripped a TD pass to Terry McLaurin for 20 yards.

The game plan gave him easy, uncontested throws early, then some more challenging throws later. But not too many. He played a very good Barrett game, and finished it with more touchdowns than any player in Big Ten history, passing Drew Brees.

Then redshirt freshman Dwayne Haskins entered the game on the final drive and started ripping passes like he was trying to throw the ball through his receivers.